Stupid Penalties, Hot Goalie Doom Caps; Blue Jax Win in OT Again

There's gotta be a morphing curse that takes hold of the Washington Capitals as soon as the Stanley Cup playoffs begin.

Alex Ovechkin & Co reassemble each fall, seamlessly incorporating new parts that more than capably replace more familiar ones.

Then they proceed to win the rugged Metropolitan Division. This has been SOP for the past three seasons.

Come April ...

 

How in the name of Marty McSorley can a club with a hex to bury commit needless penalties that wind up keeping a determined Columbus Blue Jackets crew in Game 2, one that the Capitals were desperate to win?

• What's veteran winger Tom Wilson doing grabbing a piece of Jax well after the whistle in a typical goalmouth scrum? Why give the stripes a reason to make a call?
• Whatever possessed forward Devante Smith-Pelley to grab a Jax stick well behind the play and being so obvious about it that an official arm's gotta go up?

 

After blowing a two-goal lead in Game 1 of this series, the Caps surely realized that being only the sixth team to lose both home games at the start of a seven-game series is not a desirable status.

Especially when Columbus netminder Sergei Bobrovsky -- with a franchise-record 54 saves in this one -- has a tendency to stand on his head in big games time and time again.

 

But there it is.

Fast start. Dumb stuff. Down two games.

The Caps should trademark this.

 

To their credit, the Blue Jackets are deploying a remakably contrite John Tortorella's game plan diligently, shutting off lanes against Alex Ovechkin and keeping the slot clear by edging a weak-side forward down to help when needed.

Their mission is to finally win a playoff series, and they seem more devoted to it than the Caps are to defying their own legacy of futility.

 

Washington is now consigned to winning four of five if they wish their season to continue, with three of them needing to happen in Ohio's largest city.

Their reward in that case would be none other than the Pittsburgh Penguins, if they dispatch the feisty Philadelphia Flyers.

It's possible, but only if dudes pull their collective heads out.

 

Columbus went 1-1 at home against the Capitals in the regular season. Nick Holtby was in goal for each game. Odds are he will be again.

The odds that he'll be left to cover for his teammates' transgressions: Unknown.

Again.